DI-145 Data Acquisition Starter Kit Developer's Diary

We mentioned in an earlier report that we had begun testing DI-145 installation software on our array of internal test PCs, one for each of the five operating systems that we'll support. That testing is now complete, and it's now worth noting how the software will be provided and what will be installed with the finished DI-145.

The razor thin margins of the DI-145 effort does not allow the luxury to deliver software on a CD. Instead, the installation will be provided via a download from our website. Download size will be about 65 MB. Smaller than many Windows software updates. Larger than many other downloads. Delivered as an executable file, the installation will provide all the elements of a complete installation including the signed driver INF file, WinDaq recording and playback software, ActiveX control software for programming the DI-145, the DI-145 hardware manual in PDF form, and also an array of help files for all the software components. It is these help files that comprise the bulk of the installation. Also provided will be a WinDaq add-on that allows X-Y plotting in real time. For example, instead of plotting channels 1 and 2 versus time, X-Y plotting allows you to plot channel 1 versus channel 2 (or visa versa.) If channel 1 is displacement and channel 2 is pressure a curve can be created in real time using this add-on to show pressure versus displacement -- kind of useful for many applications.